


Sunset Losses

by Calacious



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Minor (animal) character death, Nanowrimo2017, Sadness, WordSprint, happyish ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 04:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12646008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/pseuds/Calacious
Summary: A stray dog finds her way to Steve's doorstep, but she isn't long for this world. Steve and Danny deal with the aftermath.





	Sunset Losses

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a virtual write-in for NaNoWriMo hosted by the WordNerds. The prompt was: "A character lies to another character."
> 
> I was also inspired by briefly meeting a stray cat that my friend (she rescues and feeds cats) found the other day. She brought it to the vet, but hadn't been aware of the severe condition it was in when she'd found it (it was dark out) until we got there. It wasn't pretty, and it has stuck with me. 
> 
> Please forgive the errors in this, and don't read if it's going to be triggering. I don't go into any graphic details, but, still it does involve the death of a dog from cancer.

"I'm fine," Danny says. His arms are wrapped around his torso, almost as though he's hugging himself.   
  
Steve knows he's lying. Danny's not fine. Hell, he's not fine. Not after what happened. He doubts that either of them are 'fine' right now.   
  
"It's okay not to be fine," Steve says, reaching out for Danny and letting his hand fall to his side when Danny flinches away. It hurts, but Steve lets it slide. He knows that Danny isn't afraid of him, that Danny doesn't want anyone touching him right now.   
  
Danny shakes his head, and huffs. "I suppose so," he says, running a shaky hand through his hair. "But, really, I'm fine."  
  
Nodding, Steve lets this, too, go, and, instead of fighting Danny any more on this, he chooses to sit down on the sand and look out at the ocean. The sun's about to set. There's a nice breeze that makes the warm air feel cooler than it is. It's almost peaceful.   
  
"I'm fine," Danny repeats as he settles himself on the sand beside Steve so that their shoulders and knees are touching. His muscles are tense, and Steve can sense Danny staring at him, but he continues to look out at the ocean.  
  
"I know you are," Steve says, letting the lie remain between them, reaching for Danny's hand and holding it when Danny doesn't flinch away from the touch. He rubs a thumb over an old scar along the back of Danny's knuckles, and wonders about the new scars that lie underneath the surface of Danny's skin.   
  
"It's not like..." Danny starts and stops, voice cracking.   
  
"It's not like, what?" Steve asks after a few minutes have passed, Danny's hand trembling in his own as his friend shed silent tears.   
  
"It's not like she was with us for very long, or anything," Danny says. "I..."  
  
"You loved her," Steve finishes Danny's thought, squeezing Danny's hand. "You loved her, and now --"  
  
"She's gone," Danny whispers.   
  
Steve doesn't say anything, because there's nothing he can say. He misses her, too, and he'd only known her for a few short days -- just a week and a half. Same as Danny. The loss shouldn't hurt this much.   
  
"It wasn't like..." Danny takes a deep, shuddering breath, wipes a hand down his face. "She wasn't ours."  
  
"No, she wasn't," Steve says, his own voice raw with emotion. "But I wanted her to be."  
  
Steve pulls Danny into a one armed hug that soon becomes a full on hug as they both give each other comfort. "Me, too," Danny says, lips moving against the neck of Steve's shirt.   
  
"She's in a better place." The words sound trite, and Steve wishes he could take them back almost as soon as they leave his lips. He's always hated those words.   
  
"I'm sure that she's running around and barking up a storm in Doggy Heaven," Steve says after a pause, heart heavy and yet a little lighter for Danny's words.   
  
"That's it, no more Disney movies for you," Danny jokes, voice a little more under control, though he keeps his face buried against Steve's chest.   
  
Danny snorts, fists a hand in Steve's shirt, and shakes his head. "I can't think of a better place for her to have lived out her last few days on earth than here."  
  
It's a small thing, but Steve clings to it like the balm it's meant to be.   
  
"We can get another one," Steve says. His heart aches in his chest at the thought of it, though.   
  
Danny shakes his head. "I don't think I can. Not right now. She, oh god, she was just a bundle of energy, even with the cancer."  
  
"I'm glad she found my doorstep," Steve says, recalling the morning that he found the stray German Shepherd lying on his doorstep a week and a half ago.   
  
"Me, too," Danny says. "I just wish she could have lived longer, that she hadn't been abandoned by her family during her last days."  
  
"She had us," Steve says. "She had you." He remembers how good Danny was with the stray, how comfortable she seemed to be with him, like they'd been together for years rather than just a few days.   
  
"You were a good doggy daddy." Danny pulls away slightly, leans against Steve.   
  
The sun is an orange glow in the sky, sinking down into the ocean, coloring the slightly choppy waters a light golden hue.   
  
"I don't know about that," Steve says, eyes locked on the horizon, arm wrapped around Danny. "I think that, together, we made a good pair of doggy daddies."  
  
Danny nods. Pulling their entwined hands up to his lips he kisses the back of Steve's hand, and sighs.   
  
"I know she's in a better place," he concedes, tracing a random pattern in the sand with a finger. "That she's no longer suffering, and that it's ridiculous to have gotten so attached to her in so little time, but --"  
  
"It's not ridiculous," Steve cuts Danny off abruptly, pressing a kiss to Danny's cheek. "You've got a good heart."  
  
"You do, too," Danny says.  
  
The sun sinks into the ocean with a vibrant flash that bathes the surface of the water a verdant color, and Steve rises, tugging Danny to his feet. It's been a long day. A hard day.   
  
"Let's call Grace and Charlie," Steve suggests, knowing that it will boost Danny's spirits at least a little to hear the voice of his children. It will boost his spirits, too. He's grown to love them like they're his own over the years. It won't take away the pain of the loss of a dog they'd barely gotten to know, though she'd somehow wormed her way into their hearts anyway, and left a distinct hole in them, but it will help to ease some of the pain, and that's all that Steve can hope for now.   
  
"We can have a movie marathon this weekend," Danny says, voice already lighter at the prospect of time with his kids.  
  
"Sure," Steve says, knowing that the weekend will be filled with laughter, and too much popcorn and candy, but relishing the idea of it anyway. It'll be a good distraction, a good way to move on.  
  
"Just nothing Disney, or involving dogs, or animals, or..." Danny trails off and blinks away some tears.   
  
"We'll watch Rambo and The Expendables, some war movies," Steve says, teasing. He smiles when Danny gives him a scandalized look and elbows him in the gut. "What?"  
  
Shaking his head and throwing up his hands, Danny pulls his phone out of its charger and makes the call, face lighting up with a smile when he starts talking to Grace. He pulls Steve into the call as well, and soon the two of them are sitting together on the couch, being regaled by the daily chronicles of Charlie and Grace, hearts a little less heavy.


End file.
